CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

SEE YOU AGAIN

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN," CHEN ANNOUNCED, people in the room beginning to clap, "the Master of Darkness! Tashashi Suoh!"

After a moment of internal debate, Hiro turned around to face the crowd, jaw clenched tight. Over the sound of cheering, he heard Lloyd's gasp, followed by Jay's, Cole's, and Garmadon's. Kai stayed quiet, and when Hiro met his eyes, he looked shocked—they hadn't last seen each other on good terms, after all. And now Hiro was on an island with other Elementalists competing in a tournament that definitely couldn't have been legal; that had to be a slap in the face for the Master of Fire.

Garmadon, for his credit, simply blinked and then turned to Chen. "And where did Karlof go?" he asked disapprovingly, catching the attention of the other Elemental Masters, who realized that the metal-handed man had disappeared in seemingly a second. Hiro frowned at the floor, remembering Chen's love for traps that took the ground out from underneath someone. He was just glad it wasn't him; heights still weren't on his favorites list.

Chen smirked at him from his chair, which was more like a throne. "As you can see, lose and you are out. Break any rule, you are out. Never bite the hand that feeds you Master Chen delicious noodles!" he mocked. Hiro rolled his eyes, using the distraction to grab his cloak from the ground. There was a hole in the back, courtesy of Karlof's metal claws, but Hiro could get over it. Would he? Probably not. He had spent most of his money on the damn thing. "Now rest up. Tomorrow the tournament will recommence!" he ordered.

Lloyd turned back to Hiro again. Hiro swallowed his pride. He could already feel grey hairs beginning to grow from all of the stress that he had put himself through these last few weeks, but he couldn't imagine how Lloyd was feeling. If Lloyd had disappeared after Zane's death and not reappeared until now, Hiro probably would have already been having several breakdowns over the course of a day, every day.

Lloyd was stronger than him. He always would be.

The Elementalists left the room, talking amongst themselves as they were led to the dining room. Even Clouse and Chen left, and soon it was only the Ninja, Garmadon, and Hiro. Hiro balled his hands into fists inside of his cloak, glancing between everyone quickly.

"Hiro," Lloyd breathed, stepping forward. Then he froze, looking confused about what to do—run forward and hug Hiro, or question him about his whereabouts over the last few weeks. Hiro wasn't sure what he preferred, but given how many pairs of eyes were on him at the moment, he really just wanted to run to his room and hide.

"Where have you been?" Cole finally asked, taking charge of the situation. Hiro bit the inside of his cheek, taking a deep breath.

"Is anyone else hungry? I'm starving. Let's go," he muttered, taking a step away from the group. He darted for the nearest cluster of shadows, intent on getting the fuck out of dodge—with the Ninja on the case, maybe he wasn't needed. Maybe he could go back to the Temple of Fortitude, make a little home for himself, and pretend that this never happened. Lloyd had confirmation that Hiro was alive, that was all he needed, surely. They could find Zane and Hiro could stay in the shadows, watching from afar.

Cole didn't seem to like that plan, picking Hiro up by his waist and holding him in the air.

"Yeah, you're not getting away that easily," he said, putting Hiro in the middle of the room where the light was as Hiro struggled in his arms. "What the hell is going on? Have you been here the whole time?" he demanded.

"No!" Hiro exclaimed, pushing Cole away from him. "Just . . . just a few weeks." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I needed to find Zane," he admitted.

"You knew he was alive?" Garmadon asked.

Hiro shook his head. "No. I knew he would be, though."

"Here we go with the vague answers," Jay complained under his breath. Hiro glared at him. "How long have you been here? How did you get here? You just disappeared!"

"Zane and Pixal are on the island" Hiro blurted as everyone turned their gaze onto him again. Lloyd hadn't taken them off of Hiro in the first place though, seeming to have trouble processing what was going on. Hiro couldn't blame him, but at the moment he really wanted Lloyd to be the mediator of the group. He was always better with his words. "I saw them. They were dragged off the boat. I tried to get to them, but Chen had Vengestone placed on me. It stopped my powers," Hiro explained, needing them to understand that he'd done everything he could.

"Chen has access to Vengestone?" Garmadon asked, alarmed. He frowned. "I suppose it would work on every power that wasn't Elemental. But that doesn't explain why they call you the Master of Darkness," he mused. Hiro narrowed his eyes at the elder, annoyed; of course, Garmadon would call attention to the one thing Hiro didn't want to be questioned about.

Hiro rolled his eyes, searching through his cloak pockets for a moment before taking out the First Spinjitzu Master's diary. There were small pieces of paper sticking out, marking where Hiro had found any mention of himself on the old parchment. "Ask your dad," he said, tossing the book at Garmadon's feet. "Found that after I first disappeared. Needed to figure out what it meant before I went back to the team."

Garmadon picked up the book, looking it over. His expression twisted into one of recognition, eyes widening slightly and nostrils flaring. Hiro crossed his arms, taking a step away from Cole but making no other movements, not wanting to be picked up again. Besides, he couldn't leave without the book—it was the only way he could look into his past. He hadn't read through all of it yet, some of the words being too hard for him to pronounce, but he was working on it.

"He knew about me. The day I was made, he knew about me. And he passed on the power of darkness to me so I could help in the future. I think. Sometimes he just went on and on and it's hard to understand what he was talking about most of the time," he admitted, hating that he couldn't read as well or as fast as the others were able to.

Garmadon chuckled softly. "Sounds like him," he murmured. Hiro shifted uncomfortably, forgetting for a moment that Garmadon had known the First Spinjitzu Master; the man was his father. He had been dead for a long time now and Garmadon, despite everything, probably missed him dearly. "May I keep this for a while, Avashiro? I'd like to read his words."

Garmadon sounded so sincere that it was difficult to say no. Hiro was an asshole, but he wasn't a dick. "Yeah. Sure, go for it. Just give it back soon, I still have to read it," he muttered. Garmadon nodded.

"Okay, I'm still confused," Jay cut in. "Can you explain everything? Like, from the beginning? You can't just show up out of nowhere after weeks and expect us to be totally chill!" Jay sounded borderline hysterical, which Hiro would have found amusing in any other situation except for this one. "Zane is alive? You're not messing with us?"

Hiro felt a pang of hurt at the accusation; he would never lie about something so serious, even to get back at the Ninja. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, yes, I can explain everything, but can we please go eat? I wasn't joking when I said that I was starving. And despite clearly being a villain, Chen makes sure the food actually tastes good."

"Hiro," Lloyd said gently. Hiro looked at him immediately, still weak whenever he heard Lloyd's voice. "Was that you at Zane's statue?" Hiro blinked, surprised that that was the question that Lloyd went with, before he nodded, confirming Lloyd's suspicions. "Why did you run?"

Now that was the million-dollar question, wasn't it?

"We can talk about this later," Cole said, stepping between the two boys. "We're all hungry, let's go eat, alright? Come on." He put a hand on Hiro's arm, a subtle way of telling Hiro that he wasn't allowed to leave again. Hiro looked at the carpet with a frown, having to remind himself that it wasn't just Lloyd that missed him—even if he didn't understand why, it made sense that Cole would have been worried about him, too. He wouldn't change how he went about things, but there was a hint of regret.

But Hiro knew what would have happened if he let them know he was alive; they would have tracked him down, probably easily, and Hiro wouldn't have been ready to see them again. If he was being honest with himself, he still wasn't ready, but he didn't have a choice this time. There was no escaping the Ninja again.

And, even if he could, would he really want to?

As much as it grossed him out to admit, maybe part of him had missed them too.

Hiro shrugged off Cole's hand. "Relax. I'm not going anywhere. I promised to tell you guys everything." He walked ahead of them, not waiting to see if they would try to escort him again, following the smell of freshly cooked food that had his stomach rumbling.

The food looked like mush but Hiro scooped some onto his plate anyway, deciding he would ignore the smell that made his stomach turn and focus on actually eating something for the first time in a while—a full meal, at least, since he'd been too focused on training and saving Zane over the last few weeks. When he went to sit down, he was practically forced into a booth by Cole, finding himself sitting directly across from Lloyd. Jay sat between Lloyd and Kai, giving them a buffer, and Garmadon took the last seat beside Cole.

Hiro picked at the food on his plate. Despite the feeling of hunger twisting his stomach into knots and his mouth beginning to water, he wasn't sure if he trusted the food in front of him. He couldn't look away from it, though—it smelled amazing. That, and if he looked up he would have to look at Lloyd, who was staring at him so intensely that Hiro thought he could feel it in his bones.

Jay cleared his throat. "So . . . darkness, huh?" he asked. Hiro glanced up with a frown.

"Yeah. The son of the Overlord, the Master of Darkness. Destiny's a bitch, so here we are," he said with a shrug, trying to sound indifferent.

Jay hesitated for a moment before smiling. "You know, you shouldn't swear. It's a sign of weak verbal skills."

Hiro raised his eyebrows. Cole snorted, trying to hide his grin behind his hand; Kai looked away, clearly trying not to laugh, and even Lloyd looked slightly amused, finally taking his eyes off of Hiro to look at Jay with an almost-impressed look. Hiro could admit that Jay had successfully lightened the mood, so he brushed off his irritation at being called out. He was reminded all too much of the elders who called him out for his language when he was still with the team—well, Wu never did, but it was clear he disagreed with Hiro's language.

"We got a strange letter," Cole said, bringing the mood back down. "Did you get the same one? It told us that Zane was alive."

Hiro hummed, taking a bite of the food to get it over with as he thought over his answer. His eyes widened slightly when the flavors melted over his tongue. He had to resist the urge to shovel the rest of the food into his mouth without care. He put his spoon down carefully and looked up again. Jay looked amused by his reaction to the food but Lloyd wore an expression of concern.

Hiro spread his hands, showing they were empty. "I ended up at the Temple of Fortitude after disappearing," he said. "That's where I found the book. I left with it because I needed to find a place to stay, which is when Clouse found me." He decided not to mention the panic attack he'd been having when Clouse showed up. "He took me to a noddle house and explained the tour— tour—" Hiro frowned, biting his tongue in frustration.

"Tournament," Jay supplied helpfully. Hiro couldn't even be annoyed, having had trouble pronouncing the word since he'd heard it.

"Thanks," he muttered. "Yeah. He explained a bit more about my powers, too. But I wasn't going to go with him until he said Zane was alive. He said that he and Chen knew I wasn't going to join the— the tour-name-ant." He glanced at Jay, who nodded. "So he came to convince me that Zane was alive. He showed me a vision of Zane arriving on the island."

"Did you see where he was?" Garmadon asked.

Hiro shook his head. "No. Clouse was very careful about what he showed me. I think he knew I would be able to get Zane off the island in seconds if I knew where he was."

"Yeah," Cole spoke up, "what's that about? The whole disappearing into shadows thing?"

Hiro shrugged. "'Dunno. The First Spinjitzu Master doesn't explain my powers. I can't find anything about them either, since I'm technically the first one to have them after he did." Garmadon nodded in understanding. "I'm still figuring out if my regular powers are actually Elemental or if they were originally the Overlord's," he added. For a moment, Lloyd looked proud of him—Hiro hadn't stumbled over the Overlord's name, so used to calling the villain his father. Hiro caught his eye and looked down, beginning to eat again to distract himself.

"Your biokinesis and telekinesis are from the Overlord," Garmadon spoke up. The others looked over at him, Hiro with more intensity than the others. "My father passed on the Elemental powers, but there are some that he did not wield himself. I know that he had no control over the element of water, but he chose a guardian to use the power and granted her the ability. Think of it as him being a babysitter to the element, making sure it was controlled but not able to use it himself, and then giving the element to its rightful owner when the time came. It was the same with the power of wind, amber . . . and darkness." Hiro sat back, letting out a harsh breath through his nose.

So he was the first user of the element of darkness, ever. There was no one to teach him about his powers.

"I thought my father died with the power of darkness still within him. He had told me and Wu that he didn't want to burden anyone with that power, but that was when my brother and I were still children. He must have had a reason to change his mind," he explained, giving Hiro a searching look. Hiro didn't look away, desperate to learn everything he could. "Your ability to travel through shadows is remarkable, but it's not unheard of. Our father taught us the different methods of traveling that elementalism could be used for as part of our teachings, and shadows were one such way. I almost had a hold of it before the venom completely turned me evil, but once my mind was focused on Ninjago, I forgot about it. I don't believe Wu ever mastered that method of travel," Garmadon finished.

"Did he tell you what the powers of darkness were?" Hiro asked, borderline begging, but for once he wouldn't be ashamed of his behavior.

Garmadon shook his head, having the decency to look regretful. "No." Hiro deflated, looking down. "To be fair, he didn't even use the powers that he possessed. After defeating the Overlord, he chose to live normally. He trained as a Sensei and told us of the Elemental powers, but he didn't use them, even before passing them on to the guardians. You're the first user of Darkness since my father took the essence from the Overlord after his defeat."

Hiro ran a hand through his hair, swallowing thickly. Suddenly, he didn't feel that hungry anymore.

Cole laid a hand on his shoulder. Hiro looked up at him tiredly. Cole gave him a thin smile. "This doesn't change anything, Shiro. It just means we can help you better than we could before."

Hiro frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"You're an Elementalist now," Jay said, grinning at him. "That means you're a Ninja!"

Hiro wrinkled his nose. "Hell no," he deadpanned, shrugging Cole's hand off of him. "I'm not prancing around in some bright clothes to save the city. No offense, but the second I can get rid of this elemental power, I am," he said thinly, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"But you were chosen," Lloyd said. Hiro looked over at him. Lloyd stared right back. "My grandfather chose you to be a guardian. He didn't have to do that, he could have died with the power and never let anyone use it, but he chose you. He saw something in you that made him believe you would be best suited for it."

"He stole it from the Overlord," Hiro argued. "He gave it to me. He just had a sick sense of humor."

"He was not one to tell jokes," Garmadon mused. "If he chose you—"

"I'm done with this conversation!" Hiro snapped, picking up his spoon and practically stabbing it into his tray. "I don't want to wield darkness. You're all just going to have to accept that one way or another." He looked up, glaring at each person at the table in turn. "Now what are we going to do to find Zane? I don't know about you guys, but I want to get off this island as soon as possible."

The boys went quiet, everyone glancing at each other for a moment before Kai finally spoke. "He's right. Let's figure this out now and worry about everything else later when our lives aren't on the line. Our mission is simple; tonight, we find Zane and get off this crazy island," he said.

"And just how are we supposed to do that?" Cole asked, almost mocking Kai's authoritative tone. "You heard Chen. Break a rule and we're out. He's not gonna let us roam around," he pointed out. Hiro frowned at him.

"Aren't you a ninja?" he asked just as Kai said, "We're ninjas." They both looked at each other again, giving each other weirded-out looks. Kai shook his head and looked back at the others. "Meet me in my room at midnight. And try not to get caught?" he said, giving Jay a look that had the shorter male sputtering. "Come in through the balcony, I'll have the door open." He looked over at Hiro. "That means you, too, Sunshine. You're not exploring this island alone. Got it?"

Hiro narrowed his eyes at the mocking nickname, nose wrinkling. Jay snorted, trying to hide his laugh at Hiro's expression. Hiro rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered, deciding not to fight Kai about it this time. Part of his was tempted to go alone just to stick it to Kai, but he knew it was dangerous; and, besides, if they found Zane it would be easier to get him off the island as a team, even if the very thought of being considered a Ninja made Hiro's stomach turn.

Or maybe he was hungry again. He really should continue eating.

"I'll see you tonight," he finally said, motioning to Garmadon and Cole to stand up and move so Hiro could get out of the booth. There were no shadows at the table with the light above them shining down, so it seemed he would have to walk to his room.

"You haven't eaten," Lloyd pointed out as Garmadon moved to get up.

Hiro shrugged. "Might be poisoned," he said simply. Lloyd frowned.

Hiro was gone before he could voice any more concerns. For once, he was grateful for the heavy feeling of emptiness that settled in his bones when it came to being alone.

[ BIRTHRIGHT — TOURNAMENT OF ELEMENTS ]

The night was cold when Hiro stepped onto his balcony, goosebumps making their way up his arms despite his cloak. The clock read that it was ten minutes to midnight; he'd only woken up a few minutes ago, having decided it would be best to get a few hours of rest before meeting up with the Ninja at midnight. He was still tired; sleep tugged at his eyelids as he tried to hide a yawn. The cold did nothing to help keep him awake.

Hiro went to climb onto the railing before he paused, realization dawning on him; he had no idea where Kai's room was. He had no reason to, except now he had no idea where he was supposed to meet the others. Knowing his luck, he would drop onto the wrong balcony and the Elemental Master it belonged to would go complaining to Clouse—or worse, Chen.

But knocking on doors? He could pass it off as being lost. Most people weren't going to answer their door at midnight, but Kai might if he was still awake and expecting guests. Surely he would realize that Hiro would be the only one knocking on his door.

Hiro stepped back into his room, relieved as the warmth settled back into his skin. After a moment of debate, he left his cloak on his bed; if they were going to be searching the island, it would only get in the way. It's not like he needed to hide his identity anymore, anyway, since the only people he was hiding from already knew who he was.

Hiro stepped out of his room and into the warm light of the hallway. The complete silence of the space unsettled him, especially when he noticed there was a figure standing by the stairs. They met his eyes; he realized that it was a Kabuki and began to grow tense, worried that she would report him to Chen before he fully recognized the face beneath the makeup.

"Ye'un," Hiro acknowledged as he walked over to her. She beamed at him upon realizing that he wasn't a stranger. Her makeup ruined the smile, the stretching of skin distorting her appearance. Hiro tried not to let it bother him, having grown used to the image over the weeks he'd been here.

"Avashiro," she greeted. "What are you doing out so late?" Her tone was teasing; he doubted she would run off to tell Chen that he was roaming after hours, especially since Hiro had been doing so since he got to the island anyway. Still, he decided that being completely truthful wasn't the best idea—neither was telling the full truth, either.

"Found a contestant to train with," he dismissed. "But I know how Chen feels about using the training rooms after hours, so I'm headed to his room." She nodded in understanding. "Do you know where the Master of Fire resides?"

"Fire?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "Yes. This floor, third door to the right when you're facing the railing in front of the stairs." He nodded in understanding, glad he didn't have to move far. "I didn't take you for the type to play with fire," she said, tone amused.

Hiro frowned, not understanding. He shook his head. "Where are you headed?" he asked instead of clarifying.

She gave him a secret smile. "I found a contestant to relieve stress with," she deadpanned. Hiro tilted his head. "She has bright green hair. Anyway, I won't tell Master Chen where you're going if you don't tell him where I am," she said. Hiro nodded once in agreement, sealing their deal; it's not like he knew what she meant by relieving stress, anyway. "Have a nice night, Master of Darkness."

Hiro watched her disappear up the stairs, making sure she was truly leaving him alone before continuing his journey to Kai's room. Thankfully, Ye'un had been very specific in her instructions; she knew better than the other Kabuki that Hiro needed exact direction—whether that came to moving or training. He couldn't go off vague orders.

At the third door from the staircase, Hiro knocked on the door. There were a few seconds of silence before Kai opened the door with a pinched expression; he narrowed his eyes when he saw that it was Hiro outside his door and not Chen or Clouse. "I said balcony," he deadpanned, stepping back to let Hiro inside anyway.

Hiro rolled his eyes. "I can do what I want," he said, looking around the room critically.

The walls were a muted purple color that was easy on the eyes, accented by the red decor scattered around the room. Across from the plush, low-to-the-floor bed was a wall of flowing lava. A few feet away from the lava was a wooden dresser, from which a portrait of Kai was hung above. Hiro wrinkled his nose at the painting before rolling his eyes and taking a look around the room. He saw a few low seats near the lava and took one, settling onto the chair with crossed arms.

Kai gave him an unimpressed look. "Sure, sit wherever you want," he sighed.

"Thanks," Hiro snarked, sinking in the seat to annoy Kai further. The hothead rolled his eyes and turned away with a grimace, and it was then that Hiro realized that he was getting away with annoying Kai a lot more than he usually would. Was Kai regretting their last interaction and being 'nice' to Hiro to make up for it? How far could Hiro push him before another outburst occurred?

Hiro thought it was best not to try. He could hate Kai for the original altercation when Hiro had nothing to provoke him, but he wouldn't be able to be mad at Kai for another fight if Hiro was the one poking the bear.

Thankfully, the silence that they sat in didn't last for long; seconds before the clock announced it was midnight, Kai disappeared to open the doors to his balcony. Hiro could feel the cold air enter the room, the chill curling around his exposed hands and neck and causing goosebumps. He crossed his arms and watched the balcony entrance; it wasn't long before Lloyd ran inside, Cole on his trail—Hiro thanked whatever gods were still alive that Lloyd hadn't arrived alone.

Lloyd came to a full stop when he saw Hiro, the half-mask doing a pitiful job of hiding his pained expression. Hiro quickly turned his head, embarrassment painting his cheeks pink.

Cole cleared his throat, stepping between them. "Good to see you made it," he to Hiro, offering a half-smile. Hiro softened just a little, giving Cole a slight nod in return. As much as he hated that he was here, doing this with a team that he clashed with, at least Cole was stepping up to make sure it wasn't awkward.

If there was anyone Hiro had missed that wasn't Lloyd or Zane, it would be Cole, he decided.

Lloyd took a seat on the end table, wringing his hands together, instead of one of the chairs closer to Hiro, which felt like a gut punch; Cole shook his head in exasperation and sat on the chair beside Hiro. "I didn't see you on the roof," he said, stretching out across the seat with a yawn. "You get here early?"

"Why would I want to be here any earlier than midnight?" Hiro deadpanned. Cole gave him a look that said Be nice, which Hiro shrugged off; Kai wasn't around to hear him anyway. "I walked here. It was easier."

"You could have gotten caught," Lloyd muttered, not meeting Hiro's eyes.

"The only ones walking around are the Kabuki," Hiro explained, "and they've grown fond of me."

"Look at you, making friends," Cole teased. Hiro scowled at him, turning away just as Kai and Jay strutted through the door.

"Whoa-ho-ho-ho," Jay said, looking around with wide eyes. "Nice digs!" He spread his arms and turned in a circle, fully taking in the decor. Hiro didn't get the hype—it felt more like a hotel room. Then again, his room had felt the same way until he'd lived in it for a few weeks.

"I know! His room is so much nicer than mine!" Cole complained. He turned on his side and grabbed a bowl from the table where Lloyd sat. "Look, chocolate-covered shell peas! I love these!" He picked up the bowl as he stood; Cole practically leaped onto Kai's bed, spilling candy on the mattress. Hiro couldn't imagine how long it would take to get the melted chocolate out of the blankets. "Oh, and look how soft your pillows are. Man, mine are made of rock!"

"Literal rock?" Hiro questioned.

"I think this a time where he's exaggerating," Lloyd noted. "That means—"

"I know what exaggerating means," Hiro muttered, crossing his arms.

Tension settled over the group. Jay stepped into the middle of the room, raising his hands in a calming manner. "Okay, it was almost impossible to get here. This place is swarming with guards," he said. "Any ideas on how we search the island?"

"We travel by shadow," Kai said, stepping up to Jay's side. "Cover every square inch of this place until we find him." He looked to Hiro. "You up for that?"

Hiro grimaced. "I can barely do it once without passing out for a few hours. All of us, multiple times?" He shook his head. "I haven't tested myself that much yet. I don't know what would happen."

"What about one of us?" Jay suggested. "Then someone can carry you back if—"

"That's too dangerous," Lloyd cut in, standing up. "You heard him. We're not pushing anyone past their limits tonight when we don't even know where Zane is. We're going to need all of our strength to do this safely."

Though Hiro knew Lloyd was looking out for both him and Zane, he still couldn't help but feel childish for denying to travel through shadow. He'd been truthful about it's toll on him, but . . . maybe he hadn't tried hard enough. Maybe the only way to do this safely was to use his powers. Jay had offered a reasonable solution—if Hiro passed out, someone could carry him back, even if the thought of someone touching him like that made his skin crawl.

"Lloyd's right," Kai said. "We need everything we got."

Jay sighed, running a hand down his face. "The island's big. There's no way Chen has him somewhere nearby. We'll need to split up."

"No, we stick together," Lloyd argued. "People split up in movies and die."

"Uh, guys?" Cole spoke up, tone shaky. Hiro looked toward him and found that everything that had been on the bed was now spread across the room; pillows, blankets, and candy covering the floor, while Cole lay on the bed with a shocked look.

"This isn't a movie!" Jay argued, brushing Cole's concern off. "We don't want to be here any longer than we need to be."

"Guys!" Cole shouted, waiting until everyone had turned to look at him. "This bed is, uh—"

"Cole, I get it!" Kai snapped, throwing his hands into the air. "You like my bed! Would you stop playing around?"

"Just let him talk," Hiro sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose to chase away an oncoming headache. He knew he should have done this alone—hell, even working with Garmadon would have been the better option than this team. They were too chaotic; half of them hated Hiro while the other half was too forgiving, and they really did not work well together even when he wasn't around. Zane's death had done more than drive a wedge between Hiro and Kai—it had split the entire team.

"Thank you, Shiro," Cole said. He sat up and poked at the mattress. "I was lying down and the bed flipped upside down. There's a tunnel system under here!"

"Tunnels?" Lloyd asked doubtfully. "Why would Chen have tunnels under the rooms?"

"Because he runs a cult," Hiro said simply, walking toward the bed. "What cult leader wouldn't have tunnels?"

"Do you think there are tunnels under all our rooms?" Jay fretted.

Hiro frowned. "I never noticed a way to enter one from mine."

"Guys, focus!" Cole scolded. "Get on the bed. If we can figure out how to flip it again, we can explore the island without fear of getting caught!"

Hiro scowled as he watched the other boys climb onto the bed. He fought down the urge to argue and took a seat at the end, sitting in front of Cole and Jay; the safer of the four options. He refused to completely lie down, but couldn't explain why the thought of it disgusted him so much. Maybe disgust wasn't the right word, to be fair to the boys. Thankfully, other than an eye-roll from Kai, no one paid Hiro's reluctance any mind.

"Okay, I feel ridiculous," Lloyd sighed, staring up at the ceiling with crossed arms. "Is this a joke?"

The longer the bed remained in position, the more Hiro was beginning to think the same. But he couldn't imagine Cole would trash Kai's room and put their mission to find Zane on hold for a prank. Jay, absolutely, but Cole? Not when it came to Zane.

"I must've done something to trigger it," Cole insisted, raising his head to look at Lloyd.

"Well, what were you doing before it flipped?" Hiro asked. "Other than eating candy."

"Chocolate-covered shell peas aren't candy," Cole grumbled. He laid back down and sighed. "I was laying here, then I stretched—"

One second, Hiro was sitting on the edge of the bed; the next, he was watching the dirt floor of a tunnel rising to greet his face